UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE

Training Covertly For Success

Special Forces have long employed the use of unconventional warfare in enemy territory. Unlike direct action missions, which are generally designed to be quick strikes, unconventional warfare operations can last months, even years.

Unconventional warfare missions allow U.S. Army Soldiers to enter a country covertly and build relationships with local militia. Operatives train the militia in a variety of tactics, including subversion, sabotage, intelligence collection and unconventional assisted recovery, which can be employed against enemy threats.

This training can help the Army prevent larger conventional attacks. And because of deep roots set up by these missions, other Special Forces tactics, like direct action or special reconnaissance, can be launched quickly and seamlessly.

Real World Mission

During Operation enduring Freedom, the United States worked alongside opposition forces in Afghanistan to bring down the Taliban regime and rid the country of al-Qaeda fighters.

Operation Enduring Freedom was the United States' response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Special Forces teamed up with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban's brutal hold on the country and bring known terrorists to justice. Within a few months of launching the campaign, U.S.-led forces and Afghan opposition forces took control of the Afghan capital of Kabul, along with Kandahar, one of the country's largest cities.

During this time, Special Forces worked with local militia to capture and detain Taliban members, and gather intelligence that was used to thwart terrorist plots.